Last weekend, I headed up to Asheville, NC to the Ridgecrest Conference center to be one of the speakers at the Becoming Conference. My friend, Jen, helped start this conference 4 years and it’s a women’s conference focused on frugal, purposeful, and creative living. It’s not a blog conference at all, but a women’s conference. Great little conference for getting away with the girls. I think lots of church groups come together and attend this conference as a women’s group. I knew several of the speakers this year and it was great to connect and catch up with all of them again.
Asheville is such a pretty place to visit and even though it was rainy and drizzly almost the whole time we were there, we still enjoyed the mountain scenery. Ridgecrest is a conference facility that hosts lots of church groups and it had been well over 10 years since I last visited the place. They’ve updated it with new buildings and we stayed in the Mountain Laurel new wing.
It’s up on a hill with some nice views of the surrounding mountains.
With rock accents it fits right in the mountain scenes.
Blooming hydrangeas on the grounds, couldn’t help but notice those.
Mountains in the background across from the conference center. There’s nothing like the Smoky Mountains.
I was one of the decorating speakers and had fun talking to my groups. KariAnne with Thistlewood Farms was also a speaker, sharing decorating ideas as well. I rode up with Laura, from Top This Top That and we had a fun time visiting and hanging out together. Girl time is always fun, isn’t it?
Frugal blog queen, Jenny with Southern Savers and Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, one of my longtime blog friends are the duo behind the Becoming Conference.
Opening up the conference, there was an opening speaker who was really funny and then we had all days classes on Saturday.
Not a great pic with my iphone, but my friend, Edie from Life in Grace, was there talking about the well-loved home. Always enjoy being around Edie, with her bubbly personality. There were some wonderful speakers and I was happy to be among them.
My session was on Finding your Decorating Style and I took some props from home for a little vignette and inspiration. It was so fun to meet many of my readers. Thanks to all of you who came and introduced yourselves!
We couldn’t leave Asheville without eating at Tupelo Honey, one of my fave restaurants ever. I discovered this tasty place a couple of years ago and haven’t forgotten it yet. I had goat cheese ravioli and when I posted this Instagram pic on my Facebook page, most of the comments were, YUCK, that looks terrible! It might look weird, but it sure did taste good with all those veggies and broth. I ate every bite!
After Tweeting Tupelo Honey and asking them about the rumor that they are coming to Atlanta, they tweeted me back and said they are coming to Sandy Springs in 2015. I’ll be on the lookout for sure!
Just wanted to give you all a little update of the conference I went to and a sneak peek of Asheville. It’s such a fun town!
My husband and I visited Asheville this past April. We stayed downtown and walked everywhere. Our hotel recommended tupelo honey restaurant for dinner. It did not disappoint. We were taken aback how long the wait was for dinner, but it was worth it. When we got back to our hotel the man at the desk asked where we ate. We told him and he said, even though our hotel had free breakfast, we should go back to tupelo honey for breakfast, it was that good. Well, we did and I bought their cook book too.
I really enjoyed your session – and it was so nice to meet you!
It was great to finally meet you, Rhoda!
Bet you enjoyed the cooler, less humid mountain air as well! There is a Tupelo here in Greenville now. Love that veggie bowl! Have a great day! ~ Julie
We have Tupelo Honey in the “big city” near me. Knoxville.
We met Jen at Haven, and she mentioned this conference. My first thought when I saw your food photo was yum. Now I want to google recipes for goat cheese ravioli.
Tupelo Honey is my favorite place to eat in Asheville, too. We got one in Charlotte just last year and it is equally as fabulous. I love their fried green tomatoes and goat cheese grits!
I really enjoyed the conference and your session!!
I hope to attend next year…the dates did not work out for me…glad that you had a great time with some of my favorite people!!….I love Tupelo Honey!!!….we eat there every time we are in Asheville and I hear that they are opening one here in Raleigh too….cannot wait as their food is great!!!…
You were in the Blue Ridge Mountain range of the Appalachian Mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains are northwest of where you were. Regardless, it’s a lovely place to be.
There is also a Tupelo Honey in Knoxville, TN.
It was so wonderful having you, sweet friend. (And then I saw the crazy funny picture of me looking quite puzzled up there on that stage. haha :)) Thanks for journeying with me all these years.
Rhoda,
My late great-aunt use to attend a women’s conference with her ladies church group every summer at Ridgecrest. When I was going through some of her old photos, I found a large black and white group picture taken at Ridgecrest many years ago.
The next time I am in Asheville, I will definitely try Tupelo Honey’s. Asheville definitely has become a “Foodies” paradise.